Exeter Guildhall on the High Street of

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal c ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

has been the centre of civic government for the city for at least 600 years. Much of the fabric of the building is medieval, though the elaborate frontage was added in the 1590s and the interior was extensively restored in the 19th century. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

History

Early history

It is certain that the hall has been on its present site since the 14th century, and most probably since the second half of the 12th century. It is also known that there was a

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

in Exeter by 1000 AD whose hall was most likely here too.Hoskins 2004, p.24. On this basis it has been claimed to be the oldest

municipal building Municipal Building may refer to the following places: United States Arkansas * Crossett Municipal Building, Crossett, AR, listed on the NRHP in Arkansas * Municipal Building (El Dorado, Arkansas), El Dorado, AR, listed on the National Register o ...

in England still in use. The current building was constructed between 1468 and 1470. It was refaced between 1593 and 1596 at a cost of £789Hoskins 2004, p.70. in an ornate Italian style that was described by

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, '' The Buildings of England'' ...

as being "as picturesque as it is barbarous". The portico that juts out over the pavement is dated 1594 and its four sturdy

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies und ...

columns are surmounted by highly decorated corbels of

Beer stone Beer Quarry Caves is a man-made limestone underground complex located about a mile west of the village of Beer, Devon, and the main source in England for beer stone. The tunnels resulted from 2,000 years of quarrying beer stone, which was ...

. The upper floor, also in Beer stone, is more restrained with

strapwork In the history of art and design, strapwork is the use of stylised representations in ornament of ribbon-like forms. These may loosely imitate leather straps, parchment or metal cut into elaborate shapes, with piercings, and often interwoven in a ...

and 16 smaller paired pillars framing large windows that have both

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...

s and transoms. During renovation work it has been noted that the stonework had once been painted in cream with details in red and blue and the pillars

gilded Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was trad ...

. The city

stocks Stocks are feet restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law describing ...

were once under the portico. The elaborately carved oak door, dated 1593, was made by Nicholas Baggett, a local carpenter. It leads via an anteroom to the council chamber which apparently dates between 1468 and 1470, though it was much restored in Victorian times. The arch-braced roof with seven bays is original; its main

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...

es rest on carved corbels representing grotesque animals. It was in Exeter Guildhall that, in the aftermath of the

Monmouth Rebellion The Monmouth Rebellion, also known as the Pitchfork Rebellion, the Revolt of the West or the West Country rebellion, was an attempt to depose James II, who in February 1685 succeeded his brother Charles II as king of England, Scotland and Ire ...

Judge Jeffreys George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys, PC (15 May 1645 – 18 April 1689), also known as "the Hanging Judge", was a Welsh judge. He became notable during the reign of King James II, rising to the position of Lord Chancellor (and serving a ...

held the

Bloody Assizes The Bloody Assizes were a series of trial (law), trials started at Winchester on 25 August 1685 in the aftermath of the Battle of Sedgemoor, which ended the Monmouth Rebellion in England. History There were five judges: William Montagu (judge), ...

on 14 September 1685. A large chandelier hangs from the centre of the roof. It was made by Thomas Pyke of Bridgwater and installed in 1789. Apart from this and the roof, all the internal fittings are Victorian, including the stained glass, the gallery, the furniture and the stone floor (all 1863) and the heavily restored Tudor panelling (1887). Above the fireplace is a bust of Queen Victoria by

Henry Hugh Armstead Henry Hugh Armstead (18 June 18284 December 1905) was an English sculptor and illustrator, influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites. Biography Armstead was born at Bloomsbury in central London, the son of John Armstead, a chaser and heraldic engrave ...

. Under the council chamber there is an early 14th-century cellar. This was once a prison that was known as the "pytt of the Guyldhall". In the 16th century another prison, for women, was built on the ground floor at the back of the building. It remained in use until 1887. In 1858 a room was built above this to store the city's records; it was later used as a jury room.

20th century

The front room above the portico, which was once the council chamber, was converted into the mayor's parlour in 1903. In 1911 the council chamber was the location for an

election petition An election petition refers to the procedure for challenging the result of a Parliamentary election. Outcomes When a petition is lodged against an election return, there are 4 possible outcomes: # The election is declared void. The result is ...

, following the second general election of 1910, between the Liberal candidate Harold St. Maur and the Conservative

Henry Duke Sir Henry Edward Duke, 1st Baron Merrivale (5 November 1855 – 20 May 1939) was a British judge and Conservative politician. He served as Chief Secretary for Ireland between 1916 and 1918. Background and education Duke was the second son of ...

. The guildhall, which is also a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

, became a Grade I

in 1953. For much of the 20th century the guildhall was the meeting place of the

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent t ...

of Exeter; it continued to be the local seat of government after the formation of the enlarged

City of Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

in 1974. The mayor's parlour, which had a plaster ceiling dating from about 1800, was given a replica ceiling in 1986. The guildhall is still used for civil purposes such as official receptions, mayoral banquets, some City Council meetings, other meetings and exhibitions and occasionally as a magistrates' court.

Heraldry

The main chamber displays on the wooden panelling many heraldic escutcheons displaying the arms of various persons who held high office within the City Corporation, covering much of the heraldry of Devonshire. The heraldry was identified in the ''View of Devonshire'' by

Thomas Westcote Thomas Westcote (c. 1567 – c. 1637) (''alias'' Westcott) of Raddon in the parish of Shobrooke in Devon, was an English historian and topographer of Devon. Biography He was baptised at Shobrooke in Devon on 17 June 1567. He was the third son of ...

(d. circa 1637) and later expanded upon by Colby, Rev. Frederick T., in his ''The Heraldry of Exeter''.

References

Sources

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